This invention relates to a connector for making electrical contact with a printed circuit board, commonly referred to as a shorting connector.
Shorting connectors include a pair of shorting contacts which cooperate with a contact of a printed circuit board which is plugged into the area between the pair of shorting contacts. When the printed circuit board contact is removed from between the shorting contacts, the shorting contacts close, i.e., contact each other. A major problem with shorting connectors is the fact that one of the shorting contacts may become located in the area which is to receive the printed circuit board contact, and thus the shorting contact blocks or interferes with movement of the printed circuit board contact between the shorting contacts.
A known shorting connector is illustrated in FIG. 1. This connector includes a housing 10 having a pair of interior walls 12 and 14 with slots 16 and 18. A pair of contact members 20 and 22 are designed to be disposed in the slots 16 and 18. The contact members 20 and 22 should engage each other at a location midway between the two interior walls 12 and 14 of the housing 10. When so located, a contact of a printed circuit board can be readily inserted between the contact members 20 and 22. However for a variety of reasons, one of the contact members may move out of its slot and become trapped between the walls of the housing. For example, the contact member 20 is illustrated in FIG. 1 outside of its slot 16 and trapped between the housing walls 12 and 14.
With a contact trapped between the housing walls 12 and 14 in the manner shown in FIG. 1, it is impossible to move the circuit board into the housing 10, without damaging at least one of the contacts 20 and 22. The tendency for normally closed contacts to become trapped in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1 is accentuated by the fact that the contacts are formed so that they normally press against each other in the central portion of the housing 10. Therefore, when one of the contacts is displaced outwardly away from the central portion of the housing, the other contact tends to move into the central portion of the housing. Such can occur if a warpped printed circuit board is inserted between the contacts.